Sunday, May 4, 2014

"The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure." - Lyndon B. Johnson

In Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on the morning of August, 5, 2012, a degenerate, racist fuck-up by the name of Wade Michael Page took it upon himself to open fire on unarmed and vulnerable Sikh men and women who were just starting to file in to their Gurudwara (temple) to prepare food for Langar. A Sikh communal meal that emphasizes equality and common roots, which was to take place later that day.

As some women cooked the feast and children studied in the basement below for Sunday school, he walked up, and according to a weapons instructor who lives nearby, "ripped off", meaning shooting as fast as you can pull the trigger. The head priest, Satwant Kaleka, bravely attempted to tackle the shooter and was shot twice and killed, along with 5 others. There was a fire fight with police, one of which seriously injured before the gunmen shot himself.

They had no clue, no chance...a terrifying scenario to consider.

Something in particular really irked me while reading through the information of this story, besides for the obvious horror. The weapon used in the shooting was, predictably, a legally purchased semi-automatic hand gun.

On July 28th he walked into the "Shooters Shop" in a small town outside of Milwaukee looking for a handgun, particularly a 9MM. He filed the written background check, which as I'll explain later, miserably failed. The other "check" to buy this weapon is what really shocked me.

Kevin Nugent, owner of the store, was responsible to "feel out" the vibe of the purchaser to determine whether he was dangerous or not. He said in later interviews that his justification to sell included:"He did not look strange and appeared calm.""He didn't have a shaved head or 9/11 tattoo""He didn't talk stupid or act stupid""He raised no eyebrows whatsoever"

According to an LA Times article, Nugent added he's very strict, and said he reserves the right not to sell to customers who appear irate or under the influence. The same article says Page paid $650 cash for a Springfield Armory XDM semi-automatic with three 19-round ammunition magazines. He picked up the gun two days later, took it to the shops basement range for target practice and left.

Obviously this is the weapon he used to murder 6 people, 7 including himself less than a week later.

According to the NRA website detailing Wisconsin's gun laws, the owner submits a background check through the Department of Justice to check for criminal history, domestic violence, involuntary commitment and tribal restraining orders. If those are clear and you pass the eye test, after 48 hours the deadly weapon is yours.

As if this process wasn't arbitrary and dangerous enough. There WERE red flags on this maniac prior to the shooting. He served in the army for 6 years before receiving a "general discharge", which are given to service members whose performance is satisfactory but is marked by a considerable departure in duty performance and conduct expected of military members. He was demoted and given his discharge for "patterns of misconduct" including being drunk while on duty and going absent without leave.

On top of this, the Souther Poverty Law Center had flagged both of his bands (a singer apparently) for being "racist white-power" groups. On top of that, the Anti-Defamation league had both his girlfriend and he tied to white power extremist groups going back years before.

With those elements in place, leaving the judgement of a semi-automatic weapon purchase to a citizen, and private store owner whose general interest is to make money is deplorable. I'm not blaming this man Kevin Nugent for the shooting, I'm blaming the laws in place for giving that man the authority or judgement to hand these weapons out.

Our system failed, again, and will continue to without change.

It often blows my mind how the laws can be created and bent and mangled to protect things that don't need any damn protection. I usually like to be optimistic and or "centric" in these articles, but the fact that I need more paperwork to get car registration than a gun and still have to hide pot from the cops, while this sort of thing happens, is plainly obscene and absurd. Down with the NRA.